Should I Call a Tow Truck?

Use the questions above to get a clear next step — not a guess. This tool asks one question at a time and gives you a specific recommendation: call emergency services, call a tow truck, call roadside assistance, move to safety, or that it’s reasonable to reassess.

This is not professional mechanical, emergency, legal, or medical advice. It can’t see your vehicle or your surroundings. If there are any signs of immediate danger — fire, smoke, injury, or a vehicle stuck in an active travel lane — call 911 before doing anything else, regardless of what any tool says.

How this tool works

Each answer narrows things down to one of five outcomes. Safety-critical signs (fire, injury, crash, brake or steering problems, overheating, an unmovable vehicle) always route to a “do not drive” recommendation. Common, low-risk situations (a dead battery, a flat tire, a lockout, running out of fuel) route to roadside assistance. Everything else depends on whether you have coverage and how close you are to safety.

None of this is submitted anywhere — every question and recommendation happens in your browser.

What actually determines the answer

• Immediate danger — active traffic, fire, smoke, or injury always comes first, before any other question.
• Whether the vehicle can move — a car that won’t move under its own power has one clear answer: a tow.
• Safety-critical symptoms — overheating, brake or steering problems, and crash damage are treated as do-not-drive regardless of how the car otherwise seems to be running.
• Coverage and distance — for ambiguous, non-critical symptoms, having roadside coverage and being close to a safe destination changes the recommendation.

Need roadside help? Visit Tow With The Flow for real answers when your car breaks down.